List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 290
# List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 290

This is a list of cases reported in volume 290 of United States Reports, decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1933 and 1934.

## Justices of the Supreme Court at the time of volume 290 U.S.

The Supreme Court is established by Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of the United States, which says: "The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court . . .". The size of the Court is not specified; the Constitution leaves it to Congress to set the number of justices. Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 Congress originally fixed the number of justices at six (one chief justice and five associate justices). Since 1789 Congress has varied the size of the Court from six to seven, nine, ten, and back to nine justices (always including one chief justice).

When the cases in volume 290 were decided the Court comprised the following nine members:

| Justice | Office | Home State | Succeeded | Date confirmed by the Senate (Vote) | Tenure on Supreme Court |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Charles Evans Hughes | Chief Justice | New York | William Howard Taft | February 13, 1930 (52–26) | February 24, 1930 – June 30, 1941 (Retired) |
| Willis Van Devanter | Associate Justice | Wyoming | Edward Douglass White (as Associate Justice) | December 15, 1910 (Acclamation) | January 3, 1911 – June 2, 1937 (Retired) |
| James Clark McReynolds | Associate Justice | Tennessee | Horace Harmon Lurton | August 29, 1914 (44–6) | October 12, 1914 – January 31, 1941 (Retired) |
| Louis Brandeis | Associate Justice | Massachusetts | Joseph Rucker Lamar | June 1, 1916 (47–22) | June 5, 1916 – February 13, 1939 (Retired) |
| George Sutherland | Associate Justice | Utah | John Hessin Clarke | September 5, 1922 (Acclamation) | October 2, 1922 – January 17, 1938 (Retired) |
| Pierce Butler | Associate Justice | Minnesota | William R. Day | December 21, 1922 (61–8) | January 2, 1923 – November 16, 1939 (Died) |
| Harlan F. Stone | Associate Justice | New York | Joseph McKenna | February 5, 1925 (71–6) | March 2, 1925 – July 2, 1941 (Continued as chief justice) |
| Owen Roberts | Associate Justice | Pennsylvania | Edward Terry Sanford | May 20, 1930 (Acclamation) | June 2, 1930 – July 31, 1945 (Resigned) |
| Benjamin N. Cardozo | Associate Justice | New York | Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. | February 24, 1932 (Acclamation) | March 14, 1932 – July 9, 1938 (Died) |

## Notable Cases in 290 U.S.

### Welch v. Helvering

In Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111 (1933), the Supreme Court ruled on the difference between business and personal expenses and the difference between ordinary business deductions and capital expenses. It is one of the most important income tax law cases.

### Home Building and Loan Association v. Blaisdell

In Home Building and Loan Association v. Blaisdell, 290 U.S. 398 (1934), the Supreme Court held that Minnesota's suspension of creditors' remedies was not in violation of the Contract Clause of the United States Constitution. Blaisdell was decided during the depth of the Great Depression and has been criticized by modern conservative and libertarian commentators. In 1933, in response to a large number of home foreclosures, Minnesota, like many other states at the time, extended the time available for mortgagors to redeem their mortgages from foreclosure. The appellee owned a lot in Minneapolis that was in the foreclosure process. The extension had the effect of enlarging the mortgagor's estate contrary to the terms of the contract. The Supreme Court upheld the statute, reasoning that the emergency conditions created by the Great Depression "may justify the exercise of [the State's] continuing and dominant protective power notwithstanding interference with contracts." Blaisdell was the first time the court extended the emergency exception to purely economic emergencies. While Blaisdell itself might have been held to apply only in limited instances of economic emergency, by the late 1930s the emergency exception doctrine had expanded dramatically.

## Federal court system

Under the Judiciary Act of 1789 the federal court structure at the time comprised District Courts, which had general trial jurisdiction; Circuit Courts, which had mixed trial and appellate (from the US District Courts) jurisdiction; and the United States Supreme Court, which had appellate jurisdiction over the federal District and Circuit courts—and for certain issues over state courts. The Supreme Court also had limited original jurisdiction (i.e., in which cases could be filed directly with the Supreme Court without first having been heard by a lower federal or state court). There were one or more federal District Courts and/or Circuit Courts in each state, territory, or other geographical region.

The Judiciary Act of 1891 created the United States Courts of Appeals and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district and circuit courts to these appellate courts. The Act created nine new courts that were originally known as the "United States Circuit Courts of Appeals." The new courts had jurisdiction over most appeals of lower court decisions. The Supreme Court could review either legal issues that a court of appeals certified or decisions of court of appeals by writ of certiorari. On January 1, 1912, the effective date of the Judicial Code of 1911, the old Circuit Courts were abolished, with their remaining trial court jurisdiction transferred to the U.S. District Courts.

## List of cases in volume 290 U.S.

| Case name | Citation | Opinion of the Court | Vote | Concurring opinion or statement | Dissenting opinion or statement | Procedural jurisdiction | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Minnesota v. Blasius | 290 U.S. 1 (1933) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Minnesota Supreme Court (Minn.) | judgment reversed |
| Jacobs v. United States | 290 U.S. 13 (1933) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Missouri v. Fiske | 290 U.S. 18 (1933) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (8th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Ex parte Poresky | 290 U.S. 30 (1933) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | motion for leave to file petition for writ of mandamus to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (D. Mass.) | leave to file petition for writ of mandamus denied |
| United States v. Reily | 290 U.S. 33 (1933) | VanDevanter | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (10th Cir.) | decree reversed |
| Nathanson v. United States | 290 U.S. 41 (1933) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Trainor Company v. Aetna Casualty and Surety Company | 290 U.S. 47 (1933) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | judgments of the courts below reversed, and cause remanded |
| Griswold v. Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 290 U.S. 56 (1933) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Oakes v. Lake | 290 U.S. 59 (1933) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Fidelity and Deposit Company of Maryland v. Arenz | 290 U.S. 66 (1933) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| United States v. Louisiana | 290 U.S. 70 (1933) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (E.D. La.) | judgment reversed |
| Cullen Fuel Company v. W.E. Hedger, Inc. | 290 U.S. 82 (1933) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| John K. and Catherine S. Mullen Benevolent Corporation v. United States | 290 U.S. 89 (1933) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Shepard v. United States | 290 U.S. 96 (1933) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (10th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Cooper v. Dasher | 290 U.S. 106 (1933) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Welch v. Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue | 290 U.S. 111 (1933) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (8th Cir.) | decree affirmed |
| Krauss Brothers Lumber Company v. Dimon Steamship Corporation | 290 U.S. 117 (1933) | Stone | 5-4 | none | McReynolds, Sutherland, Butler, and Roberts (joint short statement) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway Company v. United States | 290 U.S. 127 (1933) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Dakin v. Bayly | 290 U.S. 143 (1933) | Roberts | 8-1 | none | Stone (opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Johnson Oil Refining Company v. Oklahoma ex rel. Mitchell, County Attorney | 290 U.S. 158 (1933) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | appeals from the Oklahoma Supreme Court (Okla.) | judgments reversed, and causes remanded |
| Funkhouser v. J.B. Preston Company | 290 U.S. 163 (1933) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the New York Supreme Court (N.Y. Sup. Ct.) | judgment affirmed |
| Hicklin v. Coney | 290 U.S. 169 (1933) | Hughes | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the South Carolina Supreme Court (S.C.) | judgment affirmed |
| Glenn v. Field Packing Company | 290 U.S. 177 (1933) | per curiam | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky (W.D. Ky.) | judgment affirmed as modified |
| Bullard v. City of Cisco | 290 U.S. 179 (1933) | VanDevanter | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgments reversed, and causes remanded |
| Southern Railroad Company v. Virginia | 290 U.S. 190 (1933) | McReynolds | 6-3 | none | Hughes, Stone, and Cardozo (joint short statement) | appeal from the Virginia Supreme Court (Va.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Missouri State Life Insurance Company v. Jones | 290 U.S. 199 (1933) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Arkansas Supreme Court (Ark.) | judgment reversed |
| Yarborough v. Yarborough | 290 U.S. 202 (1933) | Brandeis | 7-2 | none | Stone (opinion; with which Cardozo concurred) | certiorari to the South Carolina Supreme Court (S.C.) | judgment reversed |
| Miller v. Union Pacific Railroad Company | 290 U.S. 227 (1933) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (8th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Keystone Driller Company v. General Excavator Company | 290 U.S. 240 (1933) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (6th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Federal Land Bank of Columbia v. Gaines | 290 U.S. 247 (1933) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the North Carolina Supreme Court (N.C.) | judgment reversed |
| Alaska Steamship Company v. United States | 290 U.S. 256 (1933) | Stone | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (9th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Central Kentucky Natural Gas Company v. Railroad Commission of Kentucky | 290 U.S. 264 (1933) | Stone | 8-0[a] | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky (E.D. Ky.) | judgment reversed |
| Factor v. Laubenheimer, U.S. Marshal | 290 U.S. 276 (1933) | Stone | 6-3 | none | Butler (opinion; joined by Brandeis and Roberts) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Stringfellow v. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company | 290 U.S. 322 (1933) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (5th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Gibbes v. Zimmerman | 290 U.S. 326 (1933) | Roberts | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the South Carolina Supreme Court (S.C.) | judgment affirmed |
| May v. Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt A.G. | 290 U.S. 333 (1933) | Cardozo | 7-2 | none | MvReynolds and Butler (without opinions) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Trotter v. Tennessee | 290 U.S. 354 (1933) | Cardozo | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Tennessee Supreme Court (Tenn.) | judgment affirmed |
| United States v. Chavez | 290 U.S. 357 (1933) | VanDevanter | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico (D.N.M.) | judgment reversed |
| Helvering, Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Butterworth | 290 U.S. 365 (1933) | McReynolds | 8-1 | none | Hughes (opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Funk v. United States | 290 U.S. 371 (1933) | Sutherland | 7-2 | Cardozo (without opinion) | McReynolds and Butler (without opinions) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Ormsby v. Executors | 290 U.S. 387 (1933) | Butler | 8-0[b] | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| United States v. Murdock | 290 U.S. 389 (1933) | Roberts | 7-2 | none | Stone and Cardozo (without opinions) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| Home Building and Loan Association v. Blaisdell | 290 U.S. 398 (1934) | Hughes | 5-4 | none | Sutherland (opinion; with which VanDevanter, McReynolds, and Butler concurred) | appeal from the Minnesota Supreme Court (Minn.) | judgment affirmed |
| Alexander, Collector of Internal Revenue v. Cosden Pipe Line Company | 290 U.S. 484 (1934) | VanDevanter | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (10th Cir.) | judgment reversed, and cause remanded |
| Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company v. Bobo | 290 U.S. 499 (1934) | McReynolds | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the California Court of Appeal (Cal. Dist. Ct. App.) | judgment reversed |
| First National Bank of Cincinnati v. Flershem | 290 U.S. 504 (1934) | Brandeis | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | decree reversed in three cases; decree affirmed as modified in one case |
| Fix, Collector of Internal Revenue v. Philadelphia Barge Company | 290 U.S. 530 (1934) | Sutherland | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (3d Cir.) | judgment reversed |
| Burroughs and Cannon v. United States | 290 U.S. 534 (1934) | Sutherland | 8-1 | none | McReynolds (opinion) | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Cir.) | judgment affirmed in part |
| Lumbra v. United States | 290 U.S. 551 (1934) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2d Cir.) | judgment affirmed |
| State Corporation Commission of Kansas v. Wichita Gas Company | 290 U.S. 561 (1934) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Kansas (D. Kan.) | judgment affirmed as modified |
| P.F. Petersen Baking Company v. Bryan | 290 U.S. 570 (1934) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | appeal from the Nebraska Supreme Court (Neb.) | judgment affirmed |
| Missouri Pacific Railroad Company v. Hartley Brothers | 290 U.S. 576 (1934) | Butler | 9-0 | none | none | certiorari to the Oklahoma Supreme Court (Okla.) | judgment affirmed |

    [a] Sutherland took no part in the case
    [b] Roberts took no part in the case
